Hardcore punk from USA, pack of two full-length albums and one compilation released between 1997-2001.
Strife is an American hardcore punk band from Thousand Oaks, California. But is now primarily based out of Los Angeles, California. They formed in 1991.
Their first LP', ''One Truth'', was released in 1994 by Victory Records. Strife was considered one of the three "big" bands on the then-new Victory Records label, which included Earth Crisis and Snapcase.
Strife released their second album, In This Defiance in 1997. This album was also well regarded by the straight edge / hardcore community. It was also notable for the guest appearances, with Chino Moreno of Deftones, Dino Cazares of Fear Factory and Igor Cavalera of Sepultura all taking turns on the album.
Two years later, Strife broke up, citing creative differences and exhaustion. Victory Records released ''Truth Through Defiance'', a compilation of live tracks and previously unreleased material.
In 2000, Strife reunited to play several benefit concerts, and by the following year had officially reformed and released Angermeans. No longer straight edge, this album was considered by the band to be a more mature and focused continuation of ''In This Defiance''. The band received some criticism from former fans for no longer being straight edge.
Since 2001 not much has been heard from Strife, it is unsure if they have officially broken up or not.
On February 3, 2008, it was announced that Strife would play three reunion shows in Canada. As of now, only the Montreal and Toronto show have been announced.
Many consider Strife one of the best straightedge bands of the 90's. In 1997 they released their sophmore album "In This Defiance," an album that featured a guest appearence from Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. The album was landmark, and when Strife decided to break up shortly after it's release, they dealt a crushing blow to the hardcore community. Now, five years after it's release, and more then ten years after the bands' inception, Strife is back with "Angermeans."
First things first. Strife is not straightedge anymore. Once one of the leading straightedge bands of the 90's, they have abandoned the ideology in favor of a more broad, political one. As such, the lyrics really are not as important and the songs lose a lot of their emotion. In my opinion, without the straightedge creed, Strife tends to fall into the "just another heavy band" category. But anyway...
Musically this the heaviest stuff I have ever heard from Strife. The riffs on "Angermeans" are brutal, and the breakdowns hit extremely hard. If you're looking for a record to crush skulls too, you've found one. These songs are going to inspire some ferocious mosh pits. On another note though, I wouldn't classify this as a hardcore album. "Angermeans" is definitely a metal album. True, there are a few hardcore beats scattered across the record, but overall this is your basic metal album. The band also experiments on this record, utilizing violins and percussion on some songs. I liked this experimentation, but it did not save this record from being higly repetetive. Yeah the songs are good, but they all follow the same formula and as the record goes on it starts to get boring.
If you're wondering, the evilness and sinister nature of the music is definately still there. Rick's voice sounds good as ever, and the tone of the record is much in line with the bands' past releases. Really, this album is similar to their others. Of course, tt's not a battle cry for the straightedge and it is more metal, but I wouldn't say it's a drastic change from what they've done in the past. This is still Strife music.
'Angermeans" is a good album. In my opinion it is not as good as "In This Defiance" or "One Truth," but it is a solid record. I would reccomend checking it out.
/ XBTT (1) by Dejavu